


Regret

by AjanisApprentice



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 09:03:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20525438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AjanisApprentice/pseuds/AjanisApprentice
Summary: regret nounDefinition of regret (Entry 2 of 2)1 : sorrow aroused by circumstances beyond one's control or power to repairFROM: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regret





	Regret

**Author's Note:**

> The entire idea just came to me when I was listening to this game's track called Unfulfilled. Might want to throw that one on for this one.

She's on her knees, completely spent, her breath coming out in heaving gasps. She's about to die.

Edelgard knows this. Knows there's no last minute reinforcements, knows that there is no last second save from Hubert. This is where her path ends. This is where she dies.

Which is why she needs to know. Before her flame goes out for good, she needs to know.

A steady clacking sound demands her attention and she looks up as she watches her old professor walk towards her. He seems to tower over her, even more so than he always had back in the monastery.

His face is set and stoic, but his eyes are burning with emotion.

"I promise this will be quick."

Even now he cares for her, or at least she thinks he does. But with everything that's happened, she can't be sure, and she must know.

Her teacher stops right in front of her and brings his sword up, an executioner readying the final blow.

It's now or never.

"My teacher," her voice is weak and raspy but he still reacts; his arms stop their upwards motion and she's certain she sees something flash across his face. 

"Don't call me that." It hurts, but not in the way one would think. She can hear the anger, the outright fury and hatred in his tone but she can see it in his eyes, how he looks at her with such pain and sorrow. She knows that fury and hate isn't directed at her, it's directed at himself.

Her thoughts are confirmed as he continues, "I lost the right to that title when I failed to teach you that there were other ways. Better ways." She can hear the cracks in his voice, the tone that clues her into self-loathing. No one else could have heard it, no one else but his students. No one else knew him well enough.

“You still taught me quite a lot-”

“Not enough. Not of what was truly important.” His voice is suddenly devoid of emotion entirely and he sounds so tired. That doesn’t stop him from once again raising his blade.

“Wait.” Once again he stops, and looks at her, though this time the sword is held aloft above his head. With the sun setting behind, framing him in light, Edelgard can’t help but see him as divine. She nearly stops then, nearly can’t get herself to continue, but some part of her deep down pushes her forward.

“Do you… do you have any regrets?”

He knows what she’s really asking. Does he regret fighting her, does he regret what he’s about to do?

Her teacher looks at her and for a moment she’s once again sitting opposite him at a tea-table as he stares into her eyes, straight to her soul, seeing things she’s kept hidden from anyone else.

“I do not regret what I’ve done. What I must do.” His arms are held aloft and steady, and she knows that he’s speaking the truth. What she doesn’t expect is what leaves his mouth next. “But I do regret that I have to do it.”

The last sensation she ever feels is one of serene relief and content as the blade falls and her story ends.


End file.
